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Entries from June 2016

June 27, 2016

It was a fantastic week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 63 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Throughout the month of June, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

June 21, 2016

It was an awesome week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 81 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Throughout the month of June, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

June 13, 2016

It was an phenomenal week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 62 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Throughout the month of June, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

June 09, 2016

I have recently spent time pleading for the life of a dog I have never met and whose name I do not even know.

I have done so because the situation was brought to my attention by some of my peers in the animal welfare field and the idea of this dog dying just seems so frustratingly unnecessary and therefore tragic. The dog seems to have a single blemish on his record. He killed a chicken and, for that reason, he was impounded in the government facility in Carroll County, Virginia, a rural county where the City of Galax is located.

While none of us is comfortable with a dog killing a chicken or any other animal for that matter, anyone who has worked in animal welfare for long knows that this behavior is not uncommon for dogs and can happen easily if the dog is in a rural location and his guardians do not put in place measures to prevent the dog from free roaming. Such an occurrence does not mean that the dog will be aggressive toward people or toward other dogs. It certainly does not mean that he needs to die. It does mean that such a dog must be adopted out with care to a home where he will not come into contact with small animals and to guardians who will be very careful about preventing him from having opportunities to kill or injure another animal. At the Richmond SPCA, we know that trustworthy adopters of that sort come along frequently and, with good counseling prior to adoption, can be relied upon to provide a loving home and responsible care for a long and full lifetime.

Under Virginia Law, a dog who kills livestock can be killed. However, the dog may also legally be rehomed to a state non-adjacent to Virginia. Significantly, just three weeks from now on July 1, 2016, Virginia law will change under HB1231 (passed by the 2016 Virginia General Assembly) to allow "the district court to order that any dog that has been found to have injured or killed only poultry be microchipped and either confined securely or transferred to another owner whom the court deems appropriate." Under current law, the court is required to order that such a dog be killed immediately or removed to another state.

The Richmond SPCA, Homeward Trails and the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies have all offered to pay to board this dog until July 1, 2016 at which time he could be transferred to any one of our groups. We have all also offered to find a rescue in a non-adjacent state immediately. These offers have fallen on deaf ears and we have gotten no response other than one terse emailed statement from Galax City Manager Keith Barker that the dog would not be transferred.

Why? When government animal control agencies wonder why they are disliked and when people who oppose the no kill philosophy whine that they are not understood, this is the sort of situation that they need to look at honestly for some answers. Not all of them would do this by any means but, when one of them does, it really erodes public confidence that they actually care about the welfare of animals. When a responsible organization has offered to provide a variety of resources to save the life of a dog, as I have done on behalf of the Richmond SPCA (along with other organizations as well), and when you have been completely polite and reasonable in your requests to be allowed to move this dog to another location and find a responsible home as we have been, but you have been summarily refused, the loss of life feels so very unnecessary. And that is not just tragic. It is deeply unethical.

So, I feel so very sorry for that nameless, adorable dog in the picture whom I have never met. So sorry that people are probably going to end his life when there were people who wanted to save his life and could have done so responsibly. Why does this continue to happen? Why would they prefer to make this choice? Because I can only conclude that they do prefer it.

Update: This dog was in fact killed sometime yesterday. I found out last night. It is heart breaking. I believe this tragedy will trouble a great many people.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

June 07, 2016

It was an outstanding week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 42 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Throughout the month of June, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

June 06, 2016

The world lost a great man and a deeply dedicated animal lover recently when BB Munford passed away at 89. When I joined the Board of the Richmond SPCA in the mid-90’s and then became the CEO a few years later, BB welcomed me with kindness and enthusiasm. It was a daunting role for me to take on since my predecessor had been on the job for more than 25 years and had been a firm and respected leader whose philosophies differed to a significant extent from my own. BB was one of the folks who made me feel accepted and appreciated and I always loved his warm smile, great sense of humor and easy laugh.

BB loved animals, especially dogs, with all his heart. This organization has had some remarkable leadership through the years but there has never been a Board leader who had a more heart-felt affection and sincere compassion for the animals that are the focus of our mission than did BB. While BB’s devotion to Davenport & Company, where he spent his entire amazing 65 year career, was legendary, I believe that BB was equally devoted to his own beloved dog Whiskey and to every animal in the care of the Richmond SPCA.

I am one of a legion of people in Richmond who will miss BB Munford greatly. He was such an optimist who greatly loved his work, his college (UVa), his family, his delightful and devoted wife Twiggy and animals. He provided great leadership to the Richmond SPCA for many years as can only come from someone with a true devotion to our mission. His decisions always focused on the best choice for the welfare of the animals. BB made clear to me when I took over as CEO that he hoped I would expand the organization and its reach to care for and save the lives of more animals.

Will Rogers said that “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.” I have no doubt that BB feels exactly the same way.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.